I've been dealing with worries over swollen nodes in my neck/jaw now for a while. But I have been getting better and not touching them for a good few weeks, maybe even months, and thought they were going down. However, this morning I woke up with only the slightest of colds and a slightly stuffy nose, but when getting washed I niticed that my nodes had gone huge again! Does anyone else get this? They are definitely much much bigger to the touch and I can even see one when I stretch my neck. I know that nodes are supposed to react to illness etc, but really I just barely have a cold, I find it hard to believe that nodes should react in this way......please help me

Years back, after a couple of colds, I developed a couple of lymph nodes that remained larger. They're right on the edge of my jaw bone, in the crease between my neck. Sometimes they get swollen and tender for no perceivable reason. They also can get like that when I have a cold. I remember when I first got them my thoughts went immediately to lymphatic cancer. When I went to the doctor's due to a bad cold I mentioned them and after palpitating them he said there's nothing to worry about, that they aren't cancer. He said it's common for them to form like that after infections. He also said that with cancer you don't get better for long stretches and then feel sick.

Thanks to you both for your responses. These nodes are causing me so much worry. Just when I think I have accepted what my doctor tells me, they get big again and I lose it. I have had 3 GP's feel them now and have been told the same, that although they are enlarged, they are not worrisome or worthy of a scan or biopsy. I naturally find this difficult to accept. And to think that a barely noticeable cold can cause them to swell again is hard to accept too.

I have the same problem. My lymph nodes swell even before I notice I have a cold. I know my lymph nodes are overreacting all the time, since I was little, my dad has the same, so I don't worry about it.

if it makes you feel any better i had one that was swollen for about 4 years (not too noticeable but there) when i was younger, its not there anymore and i was and still am in good health. also when i had serious anxiety a new one showed up in the left side of my neck but has since gone.

Thanks both.Luscion, that's interesting you said a node showed up when you had serious anxiety. Do you think it was there all along but you only noticed it at this time, or do you think it appeared then? I have 3, 2 on one side, and one on the other. They are causing me huge concern. I just want them to go away.

You probably have a cold caused by a virus. Virus ingections can make your lymph nodes go nuts without you feeling to ill. If you have a runny nose and clear fluids its probably viral. If you are snotty, woth thick green/yellow snot its probably bacterial....I have a viral eye infection at the moment and my lymph nodes are BIG!!! One in frony of my ear and one under my jaw....

You might notice that most of the time your cold affects one side of your head more than the other. It can make it harder to sleep on your right or your left side. It's the same with lymph nodes. You can have a more active and a more passive side.

Thanks both.Luscion, that's interesting you said a node showed up when you had serious anxiety. Do you think it was there all along but you only noticed it at this time, or do you think it appeared then? I have 3, 2 on one side, and one on the other. They are causing me huge concern. I just want them to go away.

i know for a fact it wasnt there before. i'm nowhere near as anxious as i was and feeling my neck right now i dont see/feel that lymph node anymore. both anxiety and having a cold, even if its mild can cause swollen lymph nodes. so i wouldnt worry about it